Ituran Location and Control Ltd. $ITRN Shares Sold by Rice Hall James & Associates LLC

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Ituran Location and Control Ltd. (NASDAQ:ITRN) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 493,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,001 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ituran Location and Control were worth $17,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ITRN. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 726,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,097,000 after acquiring an additional 113,594 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 11.9% in the second quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 229,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,907,000 after buying an additional 24,370 shares during the last quarter. Inflection Point Investments LLP increased its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 1.0% in the second quarter. Inflection Point Investments LLP now owns 197,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,591,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in Ituran Location and Control by 7.7% in the second quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 178,369 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,908,000 after buying an additional 12,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ituran Location and Control by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 161,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,240,000 after buying an additional 3,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ITRN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ituran Location and Control in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ituran Location and Control from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ituran Location and Control presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Ituran Location and Control Stock Up 0.3%

ITRN opened at $43.38 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $39.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.22. Ituran Location and Control Ltd. has a 52 week low of $29.71 and a 52 week high of $45.43.

Ituran Location and Control (NASDAQ:ITRN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The industrial products company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.06. Ituran Location and Control had a return on equity of 27.68% and a net margin of 16.23%.The business had revenue of $92.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.52 million.

Ituran Location and Control Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 29th. Ituran Location and Control’s payout ratio is 70.42%.

About Ituran Location and Control

Ituran Location and Control Ltd. is a provider of wireless vehicle tracking and stolen vehicle recovery services. The company leverages a combination of cellular and global positioning system (GPS) technologies to offer real-time monitoring and location-based solutions for private vehicle owners, fleet operators and insurance companies. Its core offerings include subscription-based tracking devices, centralized control centers and software platforms that enable clients to detect unauthorized vehicle use, dispatch recovery teams and manage fleet logistics.

Founded in 1994 in Israel, Ituran pioneered the use of wireless communications for security and telematics applications.